STATEN ISLAND, N.Y. - The Staten Island Ferry passenger wanted to be helpful. When the gentleman approached and asked to briefly borrow her cell phone for an emergency call, the tourist, standing in line to speak with the concierge at the Ferry terminal, complied. The man took the phone, turned, and disappeared.

More recently, the concierge who witnessed this incident, Arthur Green, was asked for his phone. "I don't have one," he wisely responded, keeping his iPhone securely in his pocket.

In January, a 14-year-old's iPhone was snatched out of his hands when he was riding the Staten Island Railway. The Annadale teenager sprinted after the thief, catching up to him on the platform and holding him in a headlock until he let go of the stolen phone and managed to escape. 

NYPD'S NEW TACTICS

Smartphone thefts have become such an epidemic that the NYPD has formulated a list of do's and don'ts in an attempt to stem the tide.

The Police Department also rolled out Operation Identification, encouraging smartphone users to register their devices at their local police precinct so they can be tracked if stolen, and authorities can try to prevent thieves from re-activating them.

But some criminals have found their way around this stopgap, altering the ID numbers or selling the phones in foreign countries.

PUSHING 'KILL SWITCH'

And now, New York's attorney general is leading an initiative to get all cell providers to adopt the groundbreaking technology Apple is set to unveil this fall that could extinguish smartphone thefts for good.

Referred to as the "kill switch," the new software would enable theft victims to render the stolen devices unusable and worthless.

The "Smartphone Summit" took place Thursday in Attorney General Schneiderman's office, and the state's chief prosecutor is optimistic about solving this problem, which reportedly accounts for 14 percent of all crimes in New York.

In the meantime, many local residents are using an app called Find My iPhone -- the best Apple currently has to offer -- to locate the phone when it vanishes. 

VICTIMS HELPLESS

That's what 16-year-old Subitha Nallasegaram, of St. George, attempted to do when a man inside a Victory Boulevard laundromat plucked her iPhone from her hands and sprinted off.

Knowing she wouldn't be able to catch (much less headlock) the man, she consulted Find My iPhone, expecting the GPS technology to provide the coordinates of the stolen item.

What she found instead was that the savvy thief had evaded Apple's high-tech trap. He had simply turned the phone off.

Christian Asencio, a high school freshman from Port Richmond, was stymied by a similarly wily thief. After wiping the phones' memories clean, thieves turn around and sell the devices for hundreds on "the secondary market," according to a report from Schneiderman's office.

The available tracking apps (Microsoft created the analogous "Where's My Droid?") are mainly useful for another epidemic, this one age-old -- misplacing it. The Ferry terminal's lost-and-found department bears proof of this issue. There you'll find a basket of 20 or 30 phones, left around the building and yet unclaimed. 

A 'GRAY AREA'

Passengers routinely plug in their phones and walk away -- sometimes they forget; other times, someone else will "help himself" to the unattended item, said an MTA officer who commonly handles incidents of both types. He notes a "gray area" between theft and "stupidity" in such instances.

The tourists who waited for the ferry to Manhattan on Wednesday afternoon did not appear especially frightened by the prospect of falling victim to what Schneiderman has called "the fastest-growing street crime." A father and daughter visiting from Sweden sat in the terminal, their eyes glued to two iPhones each -- that's four devices in their combined four hands. Two Texan women responded to questions about smartphone theft by saying, "Thanks for telling us!"

From his kiosk, the concierge observes the tide of tourists and residents that come through the terminal gates every half hour, many of them shuffling to the exits barely bothering to look up from their hand-held screens.

"There must be a god that watches over the ding-bats," he said.

For him, the best temporary solution is a matter of common sense.

TIPS TO THWART THIEVES  Because smartphone thefts have increased sharply across the borough and the city, the NYPD's Crime Prevention Section issued a list of suggestions to help avoid theft. In addition to having a password to protect your phone:  BE VIGILANT  Stay alert in public places, especially in crowds and while using transit. Police say the most thefts on public transit occur near bus and train doors.  APPS CAN HELP  Arm your phone with tracking apps and anti-theft apps that allow you to remotely lock your phone, wipe it clean of sensitive information and even remotely set off a high-pitched phone alarm.  JUST IN CASE  Register it with the NYPD Operation ID program at your local precinct -- ask for the crime prevention officer. Keep an easily accessible record of your smartphone model number, serial number and International Mobile Equipment Identifier (IMEI) number. 